Cook County medical examiner donates unclaimed bodies to science

October 4, 2011

Produced by Eight Forty-Eight

A new law revived by Cook County allows unclaimed bodies to be donated to science.

Although many prefer not to think about it, a critical part of medical knowledge involves research with the dead. Last year, Cook County reached an agreement to donate unclaimed bodies to Illinois medical schools. But, many in Chicago were not aware of the arrangement until its details were outlined in reports Monday. To explain the law and the issues involved, Eight Forty-Eight was joined Dr. Callum Ross and Paul Dudek, the president and executive director of the the Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois. The organization will receive the bodies from the medical examiner’s office.

Eight Forty-Eight reached out several times to the Cook County medical examiner’s office to join the conversation but did not receive a response before airtime.